


Gaia's successor

by LunaStone48



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:35:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25496950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaStone48/pseuds/LunaStone48
Summary: it isn't uncommon for things to be lost to time. faces of the past to become blurred over the years as you go on with life and the same could be said about stories.  such is the case for the many tales of the Sage Gaia and her skills during the war of heroes.  However with a bit of work all truth can be relieved.*Warning this story follows all of three houses (mainly golden deer) and the DLC*with rights to the respected owners
Relationships: Claude von Riegan/Reader, My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Kudos: 10





	1. prologue: The fire That Started It All

Imperial year 1159, The 20th of the Horsebow Moon.  
In the land of fodlan guarded by a beloved goddess, three ruling countries now control the lands in relative harmony. To the south of the Oghma Mountains lies the Adrestian Empire with a dynasty over a thousand years old and holding many of the sacred cities of the church of Seiros. To the north, The kingdom of Faerghus makes it home in the frigid lands. With it’s knights sworn to guard it and it’s people. To the East is The Leicester Alliance, ruled by a council of nobles and its vast forests. In the center of it all, hidden in the Oghma Mountains lies the heart of the church of Seiros. Garreg Mach Monastery, home to the officers academy and the main cathedral. Under normal circumstances, the monastery is a seemingly happy place. With noble and commoner children coming to learn to better themselves and ready to lead. Multiple pilgrims would come to visit the main cathedral and pray to the four saints and the goddess. An overall peaceful place. However, like the gray clouds that hang over the towers and blocking out the sun, sorrow could be felt all over the monastery. For the sweet nun, wife to the captain of the knights, has left the world of the living to join the goddess after birthing her child. Many will mourn her death as they have lost a dear friend and companion, but there is one who finds no such sorrow at the events that have transpired. All the priests and nuns scamper away as she makes her way to the audience chamber to speak to the lovely archbishop. Her normally refined image was completely destroyed at the moment. Her pine green hair that was normally elegantly braided was completely undone and looked like a bird's nest. The front of her dress was completely ruined with blood and other such substances that come from helping with a birth and overall looked like she murdered someone. Which might be soon true.   
“Rhea!” The disheveled woman shouted as she slammed the doors of the audience chamber wide open. Everyone looked up from what they were doing and immediately backed away from the door fearing the wrath of the archbishop’s advisor. However the only one not intimidated by said advisor was the archbishop herself. “Why, Maya, what’s wrong?” Rhea asked as she looked up from the papers she was holding. Maya looked like those simple words were enough to make her snap. However, she took a quick forced deep breath and let it out before telling everyone in the room to leave her with the Archbishop. Which they did gladly in order to leave the tense situation. Once gone, Maya turned her attention back to Rhea.   
“So, would you like to tell me what happened when I left to go get the spark stone I had in my lab that would have jostled some life into that newborn?” As Maya said those words her hair puffed up even more. However Rhea kept a straight face to her advisor’s rage. She let out a sigh and gestured to her advisor to follow her to the interior audience chamber. Once inside Rhea looked to her to sit down but Maya stood tall. Noting her advisor’s stubbornness the archbishop merely waited for her old friend to speak and possibly stop pacing the floor.   
“So… What did Sitri ask you to do to that child because when I left both mother and child were barely hanging onto dear life. So imagine my surprise that when I come back Sitir is dead, the baby girl is perfectly fine, and you’ve gone back to your duties for the day.” “I merely did as she asked and gave her heart to the child. You and I both know that a mother will do anything for their child in an act of desperation.” Maya stopped her pacing with those very words uttered and turned to her superior.   
“You, what?”   
“I merely did as she asked.”   
“And you didn’t think about how that might be a problem with reviving the goddess. Since we need the crest stone for that to work!” Maya shouted as she clenched her hands on her ruined dress trying to restrain herself. “What?! Do you plan to make that child the next vessel?!”   
The room was silent as Maya uttered those words. The archbishop only smiled at her old friend in conformation as she rose from her seat and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.   
“ I believe this will be a good opportunity Maya. Perhaps even a sign from the goddess. Sitri gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who looks just like her mother and accepted the crest stone immediately after it was placed in her.” The disheveled sorceress removed the archbishop’s hand from her and took a step back.   
“You can not be serious Rhea. That is a child born from a loving couple, not one of the vessels we’ve created. What will Jeralt think when he finds out?!” The gentle smile on Rhea’s face vanished and a small scowl replaced it. She walked towards the door and turned towards her advisor who stood in the middle of the interior audience chamber waiting for her superior to tell her it was merely a jest. “This is the best situation we could ask for in order to continue with the revival of the goddess, Maya. We will continue within the next couple of days, understand.” Maya’s dirty hair covered her eyes as she held her dress in anger sucking in breath trying to calm herself.   
“No.” It was the archbishop’s turn to be surprised as she stopped half way out the door frame and stared at her advisor.   
“What,Maya?” Maya raised her head to look at Rhea with her head held high.   
“ I believe it would be best to allow both Jeralt and the baby time to recover from the loss of Sitri. Surely, you must remember the pain of losing a loved one Rhea, let them rest for a while. Also most of my creations were adults with the ability to pray and move. Letting the child grow seems like the best next course of action in my opinion. Don’t you agree?” That stopped the archbishop in her tracks and sorrow filled her eyes in recollection.  
“Perhaps you're right on this one Maya, let us wait a year or so if that’s alright. Also could you move Sitri to Abyss. It doesn't feel right to have her buried under ground. I’ll Leave it to you Gaia.” “Consider it done,Seiros.” With that Rhea left to prepare for the funeral and the plans ahead. Leaving Maya by herself in the chamber. Once gone, she un-clenched her hands and looked out the small window of the interior audience chamber. “One year huh, not much time but I could make it work. Just depends on how long it takes Jeralt to catch on.”


	2. The Emerald Necklace

As the sun broke through the clouds that had rolled in overnight, hues of pink, purple, and blue could be seen painting the clouds for the new day. With dew clinging to trees and plants and nocturnal animals heading back home. The whole world was starting to wake up for the day. This was further reinforced by the sound of a rooster crowing atop his white chicken coop and his hens starting to peck at the ground for any worms and bugs that had crawled out overnight. However they quickly skittered away as a young woman tossed some fresh chicken feed into the pen and into the small plastic bowl.   
“Come on Everyone! Time for breakfast!” She then looked to the rooster standing atop the coop and called to him. “Come on, Elvis. You scruffy old thing. Let’s put some meat on your bones.” However the rooster just kept crowing even more with those words.   
“So we're going to do this the hard way, huh.”   
She tightened her brunette ponytail and reached up to the scruffy looking roster. He pecked at her hands but inevitably picked up by her and placed on the ground.  
“Stupid chicken.”   
“He is a dumb one but he does keep them somewhat safe, Bella.”   
The girl turned around to see her mother leaning over the wooden fence that was webbed with chicken wire keeping the hens in their pen. She put a hand on her tan sun hat to keep her face safe from the sun for the long day ahead as she smiled at her daughter. Bella smiled back and walked to the gate to let herself out. Once out, she pat down her jeans from all the dirt the chickens kicked up from flitting about to get their feed.   
“Personally I think he’s dumb as a stump but that's just me.” Bella said as she turned back to the chickens only to see Elvis start walking into the chicken coops wall a couple times. This caused Bella to turn back to her mother and give her a questioning look. Who merely smiled at her daughter in response to her silent question.  
“And by keep safe, I mean be a sacrificial lamb for the others.”   
Bella just let out a small laugh feeling slight ridiculous for not realizing her mother’s intentions the first time with the dumb chicken.   
“I see”  
“Any way Bella, can you give the horses in the riding ring barn their food for the morning while I take the main barn. Then we can meet up at the hay fields and check on the growth while the farmhands take the horses out.”   
Bella gave her mother a “sounds good” and walked alongside her as they left their barn house yard and made their way to the pavement that led off in two different directions. One heading up a small concrete hill where a large classic white barn stood with a newer extension added on to it with a much fresher coat of white siding. While the path leading around said hill led to a bit of a nook in the concrete. Where horses were washed and the entrance to both the in-door riding and smaller stables. Bella opened the door to the smaller stable and was greeted by an assortment of whinnys and neighs as the residents started to wake as they heard someone coming in to give them their breakfast.  
“Morning everyone!” Bella said as she started to walk in and make her way to the tack room where both the saddles and horse food were stored.   
It took Bella at least two hours to finish up the horses in the ring barn before heading back up to the barn house to go to the hay fields. By this time it was about eight in the morning and some of the farm hands were starting to roll in and take the horses out to get some fresh air.   
The hay field wasn’t too far away from the barn house as truth be told there was merely a small paddock between the too. In that space Bella saw her mother tending to the last of the horses, their own to be more precise. Mia was putting out a few fresh hay leaves around the paddock when she saw her daughter starting to walk up and hop over the fence gate to join her mother.  
“Did everything go over well? No problems?”   
Bella smiled as she walked to her mother before turning to one of the horses and stroking their neck.   
“Yep, no problems at all. Though we should probably call Mrs. Roberts,it seems that Duke is cribbing again.”   
Mia gave her daughter a nod in confirmation before laying the last leaf of hay on the ground.   
“Alright, I’ll do that with my paperwork after we check the fields. That way I can estimate how much we’ll have between last year’s and this year’s harvest in terms of hay and how much we’ll need to buy. Then check on all the farm hands and see what else needs to be done.”   
Bella nodded as she finished stroking her Clydesdale horse and turning to the gate with her mother in tow.   
Within a few steps they were seeing the top of the fields. A stone wall ran right beside the worn out backroad. It was a beautiful spot to watch the sunset for many as the fields overlooked the neighboring hills and mountains in the area along with the rooftops of the old downtown area with the spire of the church being the highest of them all. During the summer it wasn’t all uncommon for both adults and teenagers to park their cars and sit on the wall and watch the sunset while chatting and playing around as a few jumps lay about for trail riders. However it was late March at the moment and that was far from now. The trees were just starting to bloom with fresh flowers and leaves as the new season was starting to come in, making the scenery nice but not as beautiful as the later seasons but still had it’s charm. The grass was coming in fairly okay as there were only a few spots that still had mud from the New England snow.  
Mia turned to her daughter as they walked along the stone wall as she rolled up her flannel sleeves.   
“Can you check this field while I look over the one on the other side, Bella?”   
“Yeah sure. Oh that reminds me there’s a lunar eclipse tonight mom. Do you want to watch it with me here?”   
Mia smiled   
“Sounds great Bella. It’s been a while since something like this has happened, if I remember correctly the last time we did something similar was that eclipse a few years back. That and the weather report for tonight said it was going to actually be nice for one. Though I might be a bit late.”  
Bella turned to her mother as they overlooked the fields.  
“You mean because of illness that has been making the rounds?”  
Mia gives a quick nod in confirmation to her daughter.  
“Yeah I have to give the guys a heads up on how we're going to handle it and we're going to make it work. However for now let’s focus on the fields.”  
Bella agreed and then hopped over the stone fence and started to walk through the fields to see if the winter snow had uncovered anything over the season that could possibly cause problems for the trackers in the summer and could hurt the horses on trail rides. As Bella walked, she can feel just how squishy the ground beneath her work boots and concern started to fill her mind over the possibility that the harsh winter might have over-watered the fields and unless it’s properly dried over the summer the hay might not grow all that well. One could see this as multiple large rocks sprouted out of the ground. This caused Bella to roll up her own blue flannel sleeves, pick up these football sized rocks, and trudged them over to the wall in order to ensure that no damage to either the horses or farming equipment. This was done with at least three more stones further down the field before the glint of something green caught her eye. Unearthed by the winter snow, Bella made her way further down the hill worried that the teens from last summer might have left a broken beer bottle in the field. However this wasn't the case. As gently as possible in order to not get cut, she picked up the object and saw that it wasn’t broken glass. Instead an old pendant on a dirty silver chain.   
‘At least it’s not glass.’ Bella though as she took a look at the object. The pendant was old but if cleaned properly it’s beauty most likely would come back to it. As dirt and grime coated the main part of the pendant so you couldn’t see the stone. while the green jewel in the center still shined but it was muddied and gross. Just touching it caused dirt to cling to Bella’s hands and she turned it over between her fingers.   
‘It’s so grimmy and full of mud that I can’t even make out what’s holding the Stone. I’m surprised I was even able to spot this considering it’s condition.’  
“Hey Sweetie! Everything okay?”   
Bella turned to see her mother observing her from the other field with concern as she saw that her daughter had run over to a part of the field and stopped after picking something up.   
Bella smiled at her mother and held up the pendant as she walked to her.  
“I think someone might have lost a necklace while roaming the fields.”  
Mia shrugged and smiled as she leaned against the other stone wall that outlined the road.  
“It happens sometimes. I think when I first did this with your father we found a time capsule from your great great grandfather. Things like this happen in large fields.”  
Bella let a small hum as she looked at it.   
“Miss McCarthy.”  
The two looked to the top of the hill to see one of the farm hands driving the barn cart down to see them as they were at the end of the fields  
“We’ve been having a bit of trouble with one of the foals. Think you can help us?”  
Mia let out a sigh before making her way to the farm hand in the cart and hopping in with Bella following suit.   
“Is it the chestnut colt again?” Bella asked as she hung out in the back of the cart where hay would be placed when heading to all the paddocks.   
“Afraid so miss.”   
“I got this Bella, you've done enough this morning. Why don’t you relax for the rest of the day and cook yourself a late lunch.”   
“Are you sure?” Bella asked as she turned to her mother in the front of the cart.  
Mia smiled at her daughter.  
“Don’t worry sweetheart I can handle it.”  
Bella gave a reluctant nod and hopped off the cart as they were going at a fairly slow pace for her to get off safely.   
She walked up to the front of her house and walked in. Despite the old fashion look of the exterior of the house, the interior was fairly modern but kept a rustic look to it. The walls had pictures of the farm over the past sixty years along with more modern pictures of Bella’s family. The walls were painted a nice soft brown against the hardwood floors and the white ironwood furniture. However the peacefulness of the house was disrupted by the sound of paws running against the floor. Bella had just taken off her work boots to be completely tackled to the ground by an old English sheepdog.  
“Gah! God dammit Bear!”   
She screamed as the big doofy dog smothered her with kisses while a small jack Russell terrier started to chew her long ponytail.   
“Ow! That goes for you too Prince!”  
Bella sat up with a bit of struggle but was ultimately able to get the two off of her and back on her feet. She let out a sigh as the two just looked at her with their tongues hanging out.  
“It’s a good thing you're so cute and earn your keep around here by getting rid of the barn rats.”  
Bella then pulled the pendant out of her jeans pocket and let her dogs sniff it. That way they knew she didn’t have treats for them. However instead of the normal reaction of them just sniffing it and looking away, the two growled at the pendant with fur raised. Bear even tried to bite it out of his mistress' hands, something very out of character for the derpy sheepdog.  
“Okay!” Bella said as she pulled it away from her dogs.  
‘Animals are more attentive than humans, especially dogs. Now I really want to get this cleaned up. Did I find a cursed necklace or something?”  
The thought caused a bit of excitement to coursed through her veins at the idea that she had found something magical and or cursed. Quickly she made her to the kitchen to grab a small bag of chips and then to her room on the second floor of the house. Just by looking at her room one could tell why she was excited even if it was a bit childish. The room was painted a lovely dark blue with both fake and living plants coating the room. Lines of fake flowers hung from the ceiling outlining the upper edges of the room as well as outlining the door and closet. While the real plants grew in a washtub like planters on the windowsills that overlooked the pasture where her horses nibbled on grass and hay. With posters of both constellations and anime filled in any open spaces on the wall . Bella made her way to the back of her room where her bookshelf desk filled with history books stood next to her twin bed that was coated in animal plushies. She removed her laptop from the main bulk of the desk to the “L” part of the desk that looked through the other window. She put the pendant on the now clean desk and opened the drawer to pull out a jewelry cleaning set.  
“Alright, time to get all this mud and manure off of you and see what kind of necklace would cause my derpy dogs to put up such a fuss.”  
It took Bella at least until five in the afternoon to fully remove what years being underground had covered but it all worth it in her mind.  
“How beautiful,” Bella said as her now dirty hands held the main part of the pendant up to the window to let the light in. In her hands was now a silver European dragon clutching onto a small emerald ball with all fours and tail. It was no bigger than a half dollar but when it was covered in mud it was the size of a racket ball on a dirty chain.   
“Now how could anyone lose something so pretty without freaking out.”  
As Bella continued to hold it up to the light when she heard her mother’s “I’m back.” From downstairs along with the sound of barking. Bella put the pendant down and walked downstairs to go tell her mother about her latest discovery however she found her mother passed out face first on their couch while Prince nibbled on her fingers and Bear held his ball expectantly.  
“Of course, she's past out.”  
Bella only smiled as she picked up the little terrier from eating her mother’s fingers and placed him onto one of the dog beds.  
“Alright, Everybody time for supper while mom rests.”   
Bella grabbed one of the blankets and placed it over her sleeping mother before heading into the kitchen to cook for the night. As she did a small sigh left her nose as she worked on supper.  
‘Maybe it would be best if I skipped college in order to ease some of the responsibilities around here.’   
Bella turned back to look over at her mother who was still fast asleep on the couch before heading back to work on turning on the stove in order to cook the rice to go with the chicken Mia had pulled out to thaw out for supper.  
The rest of the night was uneventful as Mia slept away the rest of the day, causing Bella to put the leftover in the fridge for her mother and made her way back to the field. She sat on the stone wall with Prince and Bear relaxing by her feet as she played on her switch while she waited for the eclipse to start. However she turned off her switch and placed it back into her bag. She then pulled the necklace out and held it out to look at it in the night light with the glow of the eclipsed moonlight passed through the stone. The pendant was absolutely gorgeous in Bella’s mind. Like it could take away all the pain in the world with it’s soft green shine as she rolled it between her fingers before hooking the chain around her neck and holding the pendant in her hands.  
“Bella!”  
Bella looked up to see her mother running to her. Panic written all over her face as she sprinted over to her daughter. At first Bella was confused as to why her mother looked so distraught but her answer soon came to her as she felt a burning sensation between her fingers. She immediately looks down to see that the pendant in her hands was radiating an ethereal glow that was growing brighter and brighter with each second. Bella let go of the pendant as the heat coming off it felt like lava between her worn fingers forcing her to let go. Once she did however, the world she once knew vanished before her eyes.


	3. Not In Maine Anymore

As the light was starting to fade from the pendant around her neck. Bella could feel that the stone wall she was sitting on was gone and she was floating in mid air. Thankfully the light was starting to dim enough that she was able to see that she was floating among the treetops of a pine forest. While the light was slowly starting to fade Bella was desperately trying to grab on to one of the branches nearby to be able to latch on and not fall 20 feet down to her doom. It took her a few tries to grab onto a thin pine tree branch and get some footing on the thicker branches but she got damn lucky when she did. When she finally was able to grab on and stand the light had finally gone out and the slight heat coming off it was gone.  
‘That was too close.’ Bella thought as she looked back down to the ground. She slowly made her way down as best as she could. While she would admit to anyone she was a tomboy, tree climbing was not something she did around her farm. As she nearly fell a few times making her way down by stepping on some weaker branches. Eventually she had made her way down and got a good look at the place. The forest was quite large and thickly settled to the point that she was barely able to the light of the crescent moon.  
‘Wait, a crescent moon?’ Bella thought as she looked back up to the night sky trying to get a better look.  
‘That’s not right. It was a full moon with a lunar eclipse when I was back home. What’s going on?’  
“Well look what we have here.”  
Bella quickly turned around to see a young gangly guy dressed in ratty rustic clothes and holding a rusty looking spear.  
“What’s a beautiful looking maiden like you doing out here in these nasty woods? Especially on a night like tonight? You from the village nearby, beautiful?”  
Bella backed up to the tree trunk she had just climbed down from to make sure that the bastard didn’t have access to her back while he was inching forward.  
“Afraid not, just passing through to the next town over.” Bella said as sweetly as she could to not tip off the possible thief that she was slowly putting her hands behind her back to grab her small pocket knife she kept for farm work. Falling for the bait the gangly fellow came forward and put his right hand on the tree to box her in.  
“That’s a shame. I’d hate to lose a beauty like you to some guy in the next town”  
However Bella had a better idea and looped her now open knife on her belt loop before she placed her hands on the guy's shoulders. As he was about to go in to make out with her with his disgusting fish breath. She pushed his shoulders down right into her high kick to his balls. He screamed out in pain and fell to his side as he clutched his manhood to ease the stinging pain. Bella used this chance to steal his spear and slam her boot down on the side of his knee to immobilize him. He let out another scream.  
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time for this. Thanks for the spear though!”  
Without thought Bella went running to who knows where in order to get some distance between them while holding the spear like a pitchfork. However what she didn’t know was that she was running straight into a skirmish nearby.  
“Get down!”  
Bella felt her body being forced to the ground with pine needles and pebbles trying to embed into her skin while she felt the wind whip next to her. She looked up from her spot on the ground and saw that an arrow was embedded into the side of the tree and next to her was the person who had saved her. Due to the darkness of the night, Bella was only able to make out a few details. It was a young woman who had saved her and looked a few years older than her. The woman’s eyes were a brilliant blue and her hair was dark but she couldn’t make out the color.  
“Thanks, I owe you one!” Bella said as she l helped her savior up from the ground.  
“No problem, but I wouldn’t thank me yet.” the woman said as she gestured to the man who shot the arrow at them. Who was surrounded by at least four other thieves.  
“Oh.. how lovely.” Bella said as she clutched the spear to her chest in fear as she looked at them. She knew that they would kill her on the spot or worse based on that encounter with the other guy.  
‘Guess it’s survival of the fittest out here’ she looked to the woman who stood next to her, took out a sword and was ready to fight. It was a good thing she did as the four other thieves charged at them weapons ready to fight. Bella tried her best to keep up with her new companion who must have had years of experience on her. As she had only experience with playing with the plastic pitchforks while mucking stalls. Though Bella had to give herself some credit as the adrenaline of the situation helped her slightly with dodging and making slight hits with the spear she stole. Though unfortunately, luck wasn’t on her side as the one thief she had been squabbling with disarmed her and knocked her down. He was about to stab her with his knife that he had.  
“Say goodnight sweetie!” he said readying to bring the knife down on her.  
However neither were expecting what happened next. As Bella had raised her hand on instinct to protect herself, but instead of the knife tearing through her skin, a red ring of light with, in her opinion, looked like archaic runes blasted the thief with a harsh blast of fire hitting him right in the chest causing him to be forced against one of the nearby trees. Both her and her new companion were shocked but used it to their advantage as it gave Bella a chance to get up, grab her spear, and take out one more.  
Once the whole ordeal was done Bella leaned down and lost her dinner as a result. She had never done something like that in her entire life and was sure she was going to die. As her stomach was starting to settle down she felt a hand rub circles on her back and moved her ponytail so it was hanging on her back and not by her vomit covered mouth. Bella took a glance at the woman who was helping her and she couldn’t shake the feeling she knew her from somewhere but she couldn’t place her at the moment.  
“Is Everyone Alright!?”  
Both looked up to see a man on horseback holding a torch hop off and making his way over to the two and Bella was finally able to see them without the darkness. Bella watched as Captain Jeralt Eisner, the blade breaker, approached them. She then turned to look at the person who had saved her and the realization as to where she was now clear as day. The woman who had saved her and helped her deal with those thieves was none other than Byleth. Bella felt a hand lift her up a little and she looked to see Jeralt lifting her up slightly by her right arm to help her up.  
“You okay kid. You don’t look so good” Jeralt said with concern clear in his voice. However before Bella could respond to his concerns a flash of hot pain shot through her right arm. She instinctively clutched the spot where a small light was radiating and causing her discomfort. She could hear both start to fret over her but the pain was at the forefront of her mind and caused her to pass out from all that had happened to her.  
As she dreamed in her pain induced sleep her mind wandered her friend Emma. The very person who had introduced her to the series in January after winter break in a fangirling rant after their algebra II class.  
‘Of all the series to get tossed into, it had to be this one. I hate you animal crossing for stealing all my time at the moment but I'll forgive you later.’  
Bella had only played the side story and up to the loss of sothis on the golden deer route before getting sidetracked by animal crossing’s release and her work on the farm. She did like it so far, but if she was stuck here with no knowledge of the other routes. She was put at a major disadvantage. Regardless, she was here now and had no idea how she ended up here aside from the fact that the pendant she found reacted to something. Whether it was the lunar eclipse or herself, she needed more information on this whole situation.  
Soon enough Bella started to wake up and get her bearings. She was laying up against a tree with the light of the fire of the makeshift campsite making the shadows of the mercenaries dance around the area. It was still dark and while she could make out some of the mercenaries, it was slightly difficult. Some were working on cleaning their gear, while others were joking around and enjoying some alcohol but she couldn’t make out faces. However despite her sleepy vision she couldn’t make out Byleth or Jeralt’s figures among the group as she gently looked around. As she did she felt a bit of cloth slide down her face slightly, enough to cover her left eye slightly. Bella was about to move it but someone else beat her to it. She lifted her head slightly against the back of the tree trunk and saw Byleth holding the cloth above her head ready to place it back onto her forehead.  
“Good to see you're awake.” she said flatly as she forced Bella back against the tree in a gentle manner one would not expect from a mercenary. Nonetheless Bella let Byleth tend to her as she still felt extremely weak but well enough to have her wits about her.  
“Where is that knight from before? The one with the torch.” She said, trying not to give any details away.  
“My father went to go check and see if there were any stragglers among the bandents and to ensure they won’t cause harm to the town nearby.”  
Bella let out a small hum at the new knowledge.  
As she thought this, said knight returned and placed a hand on Byleth’s shoulder causing her to look up.  
“Good job patching her up kiddo. Now, where did you come from? Your definitely not from Fodlan” Jeralt said as he turned his attention onto Bella.  
Bella felt a little intimidated by him due to the fact that in the story, as he was such a respected character in terms of power but she owed it to them as they could have just left her in the woods to die. However she had seen enough shows to know that if she told too much she might lose any information she had if things changed because of it.  
As she thought for a moment, her mother’s words for keeping surprises rung out in her head.  
‘Stick close to the truth to make room for the lie. That way you are neither lying nor telling the truth.’  
So she did just that. She told them that she was the daughter of a horse farmer and that while she was helping her mother look over the field, she found a rusted necklace. She cleaned it up, went on a walk before bed and wound up here. She also explained that fodlan was months away by sea from her home, giving a reason for her appearance. She watched as the two mercenaries thought it over her story while looking at her somewhat concerned face as she prayed they believed her. The two thought over explanation before Jeralt bent and patted her on the head like one would do to a child.  
“Well your story seems to hold up all things considered, however I do have one question”  
Bella tensed in slight fear at what the possible question could be due the fact that when she was playing, Jeralt came off as a bit of a cautious man. Jeralt reached down, gently grabbed her right arm, rolled up her sleeve and exposed her forearm. On the spot that radiated pain earlier was fresh pink skin as if she had been cut and the wound had fully healed over. However the new skin didn’t look like a large blob like a burn mark or a scrape. No, it was a beautiful design in Bella’s eyes. It was facing outward, so she had to twist her arm slightly in order to see it once Jeralt let go. If Bella had to describe it, the shape reminded of something between an hourglass or a lily. As the upper part curled at the ends creating the illusion of petals with two large oval shapes creating a stigma growing out of the hourglass. While the bottom part had a large line going down creating the stem and piercing down the bottom of the glass. She turned to Jeralt who kept his eyes on the mark as he stood up.  
“Have you ever seen this mark before?”  
Bella merely shook her head, she wanted to ask more questions but chose against it.  
She turned to Byleth to see if they were lost on the question as well and it seemed so as their eyes showed it more than their face in the limited light. However both turned their attention back to Jeralt as he crossed his arms and looked down at the farm girl.  
“Well since you're not from here and I highly doubt you want to restart your life in the village. I suppose it’s best we bring you with us.”  
Bella’s face went from shock that he actually wanted to bring her along to excitement. The thought of not only having a chance to survive and figure things out, but being able to go to the monastery and learn magic excited her. However Jeralt must have noticed this as he then snapped his fingers a few times in front of her face to regain her attention.  
“However kid, you don’t have much experience and while you did good tonight, that doesn't mean you’ll get lucky the next time. Best to get some practice in.”  
Bella lowered her head, understanding his words. She then turned Byleth nodding in agreement to her father’s words before turning to him.  
“Do you want me to train her at our next camp” she asked  
Jeralt nodded and turned to the group of other mercenaries drinking and enjoying the fire.  
“Take her out hunting tomorrow and see what she can do. Plus whatever she catches tomorrow she can sell and get herself some weapons she does well with.”  
With that Jeralt went over to go drink and Byleth looked over to the girl she was now in charge of with a blank look on her face. Bella smiled at her new companion and hoped things would go smoothly. To her surprise, Byleth smiled back and made herself comfortable next to her.  
“Get some sleep, we’ve got work tomorrow”  
Bella smiled and did as she was told.  
***

The next Morning Bella felt someone gently shake her shoulder as light was finally starting to break. Still sleepy,Bella sat up slowly and looked up to her waker and saw Byleth looking down at her ready to go.  
“Morning.” Bella said as she rubbed her eyes as she got up for the day.  
“Morning” Byleth said in return before handing her a bow and arrow. Bella looked to the weapon before her and looked back up at Byleth.  
“Am I working with the bow first?” She said as she took the bow from Byleth’s hand.  
“Yes, you can’t catch a deer with a sword.” Byleth said with a bank face as she turned to go grab her cloak.  
‘Makes sense.’ Bella thought as she followed. As they walked away from the group and further into the woods. While Byleth was a few paces ahead of her, she quickly trotted up to her to keep up with her pace.  
“Have you worked with a bow before?” Byleth Asked turning to her as they walked. Bella gave a small shrug as she adjusted the bow over her shoulder.  
“A little bit, My dad taught me a bit in case predators went after our horses or chickens . I’m not the greatest but I’m good enough that I won’t hurt myself.”  
Byleth gave a curt nod before stopping in her tracks causing Bella to do the same.  
“We’ll have you learn a bit more on that as well as the lance. Does that sound alright?”  
Bella thought for a moment, she knew that Byleth was a teacher in the main part of the game and years of experience under her belt.  
“I’ll trust you on that.”  
With that, they went in to go hunt. They were lucky as it was still early and most animals who moved through the day were still down to rest for the night. It was a bit clunky and as Bella had never done this before but she got a decent doe. eEven if she aimed in the wrong spot and nearly scared it off. Though she couldn’t shake the feeling that Byleth was enjoying watching her struggle with bringing it back, even if she wanted to do it herself to get the experience.  
Soon two weeks had gone by in a flash before Bella could even think about her experience in fodlan. She would wake up in camp or an inn depending on the day. Then would train with either Jeralt or Byleth, then travel to the next mission. They had her partake in a good handful of them to help her with the mercenary life as none of them had been able to figure out why her pendant had acted as so that night.  
“Best to leave it be, I’m sure it will figure itself out” Jeralt had said to her as they were riding to one of their missions and discussing it. Regardless, Bella did slightly enjoy this a bit as she was now in a world where magic truly existed and her companions were quite nice to her. In truth, Byleth was starting to feel like a sister figure to her as she would often keep an eye on her in battle and would often give advice on a variety of things. That and Byleth would often be seen helping her learn about fodlan in general. As Bella had been writing in a small jornal that she had bought with her first mission. It thankfully had a lock and key in order to keep it safe as she was writing down everything she knew about the story before arrival in order to get the bearings and keep her head above water. Knowing sooner or later the start of what she knew would soon begin and had no access to her phone to make notes as the thing refused to turn on or function properly since arriving.  
“Hey.Time to wake up”  
Bella sat up in the bed she was sharing with Byleth at the current Inn they were staying at. If this were any other day Bella would be fine with the early morning schedule the mercenaries lived, however the Inn they were staying at was in Remire village. The very village you start the game in. She turned to Byleth who was also starting to wake. Though, Bella had to guess she must have still been tired from her dream of Sothis, as she still looked half asleep but got up regardless.  
“Morning” Bella said to Byleth to lighten the mood. Who in turn raised a hand in greeting as they yawned the sleep way as they got up. Bella followed suit and turned to Jeralt as well and ruffled her on the head as the top of her head just barely reached his shoulders.  
However his attention was on his daughter at the moment.  
“Were you having that dream again?” he asked with concern. Bella turned to hear Byleth’s response as she still looked a bit sleepy.  
“I was dreaming about a war…”  
“Massive armies clashing on a vast field, right? There hasn’t been a battle like that in over three centuries..”  
“Maybe it was a premonition of something to come” Bella said to herself more than the group, reflecting on the opening sequence and Byleth’s choice of words.  
Regardless Jeralt went straight back to business as usual after taking a glance at Bella.  
“In any case, Just put that out of your mind for now. The battlefield is no place for idle thoughts.” He then turned to Bella. “That goes for you too. Risking your life is a Part of the job for mercenaries like us. Letting your mind wander is a sure way to get yourself killed.”  
The two girls nodded at his words in acknowledgment.  
“Okay, time to get moving. Our next job is in the Kingdom. I told you before. It’s far from here, so we’ll need to leave at dawn.”  
Byleth let out one last yawn before giving a small “Of course”.  
Bella smiled before turning to Byleth.  
“At least the cold northern air will help keep you awake, since you're still half asleep”  
Byleth quirked an eyebrow before pinching Bella’s closest ear, causing the girl a bit pain.  
“Need I remind you who has been training you mostly since we met.” Byleth said with a slight smile. Bella squirmed for a minute before Byleth let go of her earlobe.  
“Alright that’s enough. Good grief.Everyone is already waiting for us outside.” jeralt said as he crossed his arms at the two. Completely unamused. However as Bella had been expecting one of the other mercenaries had run into the room.  
“Jeralt! Sir! Sorry to barge in, but your presence is needed.”  
“What’s Happened”  
The two expert mercenaries quickly made their way out to see what was going on but Bella lingered for a few moments before racing to catch up with them and not miss out on the action. 

‘All right, it’s now or never. Time for the story to begin. Don’t screw up now Bella’


	4. Let The Games Begin

Bella quickly made her way up to the group that was forming around who she knew were the house leaders of the monastery. Dimitri, Claude, and Edelgard looked slightly worn out from what Bella assumed was their escape with their weapons still in hand but still composed for their station. To her this definitely put things into perspective that here they were people here, not charters in a game as they looked as real as she was. Regardless she stayed slightly behind Byleth and Jeralt to stay low and watch the events unfold.   
“Please forgive our intrusion. We wouldn’t bother you were the situation not dire” Dimitri said while giving a slight bow to show his apologies about the early morning wake up call.  
“What do a bunch of kids like you want at this hour?” Jeralt asked as he was most likely confused to why people so young needed his aide.  
“We’re being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to lend your Support”  
“Bandit’s? here?” Jeralt said in surprise as he had told Bella that this was a fairly sleepy village, a perfect spot to restock and get ready for their next mission.  
“It’s true, They attacked us while we were at rest in our camp”  
“We’ve been separated from our companions and we’re outnumbered. They’re after our lives.. Not to mention our gold.”  
“I’m impressed you’re staying so calm considering the situation. I, Wait. That uniform.”  
Before Jeralt could finish, one of the other mercenaries rushed over to inform them about the incoming number of bandits. Bella decided to slightly come out of her hiding spot to ask a small question to the scout. This caused the house leaders to slightly perk up at the new figure but didn’t question it.   
“How many are we looking at?” She asked trying to figure out how much the game was being easy on the player in the beginning with the number of enemies,  
“I’d say fifty or so coming this way. Enough to cause a major problem for the village.”  
This was enough to cause Bella to take a slight gulp in fear at the number.  
‘That’s still a lot of thieves! A lot more than what I’ve worked with thus far!’  
However before Bella could continue her thoughts and worries about her fighting skills, Jeralt’s words broke her train of thought.  
“I guess they followed you all this way here. We can’t abandon this village now.”  
He then turned to the two girls.  
“Come on, let’s move, Hope your Ready”  
Both gave Jeralt a nod in confirmation but Bella was still fairly worried as A). she didn’t want to cause some sort of butterfly effect and B), she didn’t feel all that ready for this yet. She knew that this thug leader was under the Flame emperor’s command and gets the boot after he gets his ass handed to him but still.   
Byleth must have noticed Bella’s worry that locked her in her own head at the upcoming battle and decided to snap her out of it by giving her a small pat on her back.  
“Bella, we need to get a move on. The battlefield is no place for idle thought.”   
This snapped Bella's lost train of thoughts.  
“Hey! You stole that from Jeralt!”  
Byleth gave a small smirk and gestured for Bella and the house leaders to follow her to battle. They walked to the edge of the village and to the open front gate of the large stone walls that protected those within. But stone can only do so much. As the five moved forward they were only a few feet out of the gated town with Byleth on point. They looked out and they could see the small flickers starting to pop up between the trees with a few figures of the thieves starting to show themselves.  
“Byleth! Bella!”  
Two turned sound and saw that Jeralt was fully mounted on his horse with a few of the other mercenaries.   
“We’re going to the west gate to take out the main bulk of the force while you handle any stragglers” He shouted as he angled his horse to move to the gate to start the battle.  
“That's our que.” Bella said to herself as she watched him ride off.  
“I suppose now would be the best time to thank you. We are in your debt for helping us with this as it wouldn't do for us to fall in a place like this. Please allow us to help you with driving out the thieves.”  
‘No wonder Emma did him first. He’s like a classic shoujo prince.’  
“The prince has a point, If not for you guys I’m not dead right now. Thanks for that!”  
“Enough you two, they say their mercenaries, so let’s see what they can do”  
“Uh, please don’t count me in that. I’m still new at this”   
Regardless the battle was about to begin as the set of the bandits started to close in and charge at the group ready to rip them to shreds. Unsurprisingly Byleth, Dimitri, and Edelgard were front and center of it all, bashing the enemies skulls in. while Claude was a few paces back not to get killed. leaving poor Bella caught in the middle and lost on what to do.   
‘Offensive or defensive?! A little advice would have been nice!’ Bella thought as one of the bandits that got loose and tried to go around the trio of fighting beasts and get them in the back.  
“Take this you jerk!” Bella screamed as one of them was starting to prepare to go after Dimitri while he was dealing with a good chunk of the bandits. Bella was able to basically slap the dagger out of his hands with the edge of her spear before quickly being able to pull back and get him between the ribs, through the heart and pinning him down to the ground.  
“I’m so sorry” Bella said as she pulled the spear out, ready to go to the next thief that tried to get a smart idea. However before she could do any more she felt the wind wiff past her so quick she couldn’t identify what went flying till she turned around and saw one of the thieves that had run away from Dimitri with an arrow lodged into his skull. Bella quickly turned around to see where the arrow came from a saw Claude start to lower his bow.  
“You weren’t joking when you said you were new at this. I wouldn't be surprised if that other guy was bait to catch you off guard.” he said with a playful smile.  
Bella merely rubbed the back of her neck and nodded in conformation with a slight blush on her cheeks that her lack of skills were that bad. However as she did she noticed that the cheeky archer was also not paying attention, as one of the thieves made their way behind Claude reading to take him out as well.  
“Behind you!” As she started to prepare to run over to him. Claude spun sound to see his attacker just in time to dodge the blow. However both were surprised to see what happened next. As Bella had angled her spear ready to go after the fool, a small sphere of fire formed at the tip and blasted out of it with full force towards both the thief and Claude. Thankfully though Claude was able to once again jump out of the way before it hit as the poor thief was burnt to a crisp as he fell over dead.  
“I Didn’t Mean To Do That!” Bella yelled as she saw the result of what she assumed was her magic as she pulled the spear up not to hit anyone else.  
“I think at this point anything goes for getting rid of them so don’t worry about it.” Claude shouted back. However as he did both failed to notice that whatever flames were left of the blast started to rekindle and bundle into another ball of fire. This time it was aiming straight for Bella.  
“No, No No! Not me!” Bella screamed as she ran in the opposite direction causing her to fall and trip down the hill like an idiot in front of Edelgard and Byleth and landing face first into the dirt.   
‘What did I do wrong?’ Bella thought as she slowly picked herself off the ground to see the leader of the fools, Kostas, hop back up from being struck by Edelgard’s axe, which broke from the fight leaving her with only her dagger. Bella herself quickly got herself into a crouching position to take off but a Chill went up her spine stopping her movements and causing a wave of pain to go through her head.  
“What was…”  
“You’ll Die”  
Bella looked up as quickly as she could to see Byleth charge in and swing her sword against the thief with a huff, sending him flying back and skittering away in fear.  
“Hey! Over here!” Bella turned and saw Claude and Dimitri coming down the hill to meet up with everyone. Bella slowly got up feeling that a few things were bruised but nothing too bad as she patted herself down to get the dirt off her clothes.  
“Are you alright after that fall?”   
Bella looked up and saw that Claude had made his way over to what she assumed was to make sure she was okay but she never got the chance to respond.  
“Bella!”  
Said girl looked up to see Jeralt had made his way over on his mount to check them all with Byleth right next to him, most likely discussing what just happened.  
“Coming” She said as she skittered over to see what he needed.  
“Is everything okay?”  
“Could have been worse,” Bella said, scratching the back of her head as well as picking out a few twigs out of her hair that came from the fall.  
“It doesn't look..”  
“The Knights Of Seiros are Here! We’ll cut you down for terrorizing our students….HEY, the thieves are running away! Go after them”  
Everyone looked to the knight who had arrived late to the scene and Bella let out a small snort of laughter as she recognized Alois. As he ran over to check on everyone she heard Jeralt let out an annoyed groan in recognition.   
“The students seem unharmed. And… who’s this?”  
“Ugh.. Why him? Bella take my horse please.” Jeralt said as he hopped off and handed her the reines. Bella just smiled and nodded as both Him and Byleth went to go talk with Alois. As they did Bella moved to stroke the horses neck to soothe them after the battle that just transpired.   
“I take it I don’t need to repeat myself after what just happened?”   
Bella turned to see that the three house leaders made their way over to meet up with her.  
“Yeah, no need, I'm good, just a bit roughed up. What about you? You all ran all the way here then got caught up in a fight. You all must be exhausted.”  
“I will admit, it has been quite a long night. However we are probably more accustomed to this than you are. You weren’t kidding when you said you were new at being a mercenary.” Edelgard said as she looked over Bella with a small smile of what Bella assumed to be either pity or amusement.  
“Well I’ve only been doing this for roughly two weeks now. So I know I’m not perfect and I still need some work.”  
“Still, the fact that you knew this but still went into battle is quite commendable. Perhaps if you were to join us at the monastery your skills would improve.” Dimitri said, trying to look on the bright side.  
“First we have to wait and see if old Alois is done talking before that can happen, your majesty.” Claude said as he gestured to said knight who at this point had started to walk off with a very unhappy Jeralt, leaving Byleth there in a daze.   
‘She must have been listening to Sothis. They probably want to know what's going on as well since this was all pretty unexpected.’ Bella thought as used her free hand to call out to her and snap Byleth out of her daze. She looked around and saw that Bella was the one to call out to her as the girl was waving at her while she stood among the house leaders.   
“Everything alright?” Bella asked as Byleth made her way over and gave the horse a small pet on the nose.  
“Yes, everything is fine. Why is something wrong?”   
“No, Just making sure. You were in a bit of a daze.”  
“I suppose I was,” Byleth said as she thought for a moment before Edelgard cleared her throat causing both to turn to her.   
“I appreciate your help back there. Your skill is beyond question. You are clearly an experienced mercenary. And your father… that would be Jeralt, The Blade Breaker? Former captain of the Knights of Seiros. Oft praised as the strongest knight to ever live. Have I missed anything?”  
“I didn’t know he was a captain. You Bella?” Byleth said as she turned to the girl holding the horse.   
“Nope, but then again I’m not from around here if you recall.” Bella said in response which seemed to shock Edelgard at their lack of knowledge.   
“How curious. I’d wager the explanation for that is fascinating indeed.”   
“Hey! You are coming with us to the monastery, right? Of course you are. I’d love to bend your ears as we travel. Oh, I should mention that the three of us are students of the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery. We were doing some training exercises when those bandits attacked. I definitely got the worst of it.” Claude said, explaining how they got here and who they were.  
“That would be because you ran off,” Edelgard said with huff.  
“Too true. I was the first to make a strategic retreat. Everything would have worked out if these two hadn’t followed me and ruined everything. Because of them, every single one of those bandits chased after us, Utterly ridiculous.” Claude replied slightly annoyed that the others followed him.  
“Ah, so that’s what you were thinking Claude. And here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all.” Dimitri said with a slight laugh in his voice.  
“His intentions were clear as day. You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person’s words.”   
“Hm,You will prove a lacking ruler yourself if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on.”  
“Oh, Joy. A royal debate between Their Highnesses. I wonder how being completely predictable affects one's ability to wield power. Personally, as the embodiment of distrust, I’d say Your little exchange smacks of naivete”  
“Me? Naive? Tell me, are you actually incapable of keeping quiet, or is your lack of self-awareness a condition of sort?”  
Reading the room Dimitri interrupted the two causing Bella to laugh a bit.  
“In any case forgive our digression. I must speak with you, if you can spare a moment. The way you held your ground against the bandits’ leader was captivating! You never lost control of the situation. It showed me I still have much to learn.”  
“Your skill is precisely why I must ask you to consider lending your services to the Empire. I might as well tell you now. I am a mere student. I am also the Adrestian Empire’s -”  
“Halt, Edelgard. Please allow me to finish my own proposition. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is in dire need for exceptional individuals like yourself. Please do consider returning to the kingdom with me.”  
“Whoa, there! You two sure are Hasty. Trying to recruit you just met. Tactless, really. I was Personally planning to develop a deep and lasting friendship on our journey back to the monastery before begging for favors. But it seems there’s no time for niceties in this world. So, capable stranger, let’s get right to it. Where does your allegiance lie.”  
‘Ah, here we go. The first decision of the game and where the stories start to split. Please Byleth. Give me a hint of what route we're doing.’ Bella thought as she eyed the mercenary who was thinking over her own answer. As Byleth gave a small hum to think about her answer she then nodded her head, confirming the answer. This caused Bella to unconsciously gulp in worry as she looked to the other house leaders who also anticipated the answer.  
“I am a mercenary, Whoever pays me more get’s my loyalty.”  
This left all four teens in shock at her words before Claude started to laugh at it all, Bella to put her head in one of her hands, and the two royals still just stood there confused on what just happened.  
‘Why, Byleth, why. Throw me a bone here.’ Bella thought in slight annoyance however she stopped wallowing slightly when she heard Claude stop laughing and took a glance over through her fingers.  
“I suppose this is what we should have expected for someone who spends their life on the road.”   
However before any more words could be spoken a certain knight decided to reappear and tell the leaders it was time to head back, leaving the two girls alone. This caused Bella to look up from her wallowing to watch the lot return to the group of Seiros Knights before noticing Claude glance back to look at them before giving the girl a cheeky smile. This caused Bella to give a small smile in return and wave with her free hand. Before turning to her companion who seemed to be lost in thought again.  
“Byleth?” Bella said gently with a smile on her face as she placed her free hand on their shoulder causing them to jump slightly. In response the blue haired woman looked to her younger companion and tilted her head silently asking her what she wanted.   
“We should probably go get our stuff after we give Jeralt back his horse.”  
Byleth gave a small nod and they made their way back to the inn where they found Jeralt leaning up next to the door rubbing his forehead and letting out an annoyed groan.  
“You okay?” Bella asked as she walked up and handed him the reins to his steed. As he did he let out one last sigh before a small smile appeared on his face before giving Bella a small head pat and a nod to Byleth.  
“Yeah, just a bit annoyed that Alois is as loud as ever. Now get your stuff ready the monastery isn’t far away from here so we will be making the journey by foot.”   
The two just nodded and went inside to collect their things while Jeralt thought for a moment without them.  
‘As much as I don’t want to head back there, we can at least get some information on Bella’s crest even if I have to face her to do so.’ He then looked into the room and saw that Bella was scrambling about trying to find something before looking under the bed. Then she popped back up like a rabbit with her journal in hand before Byleth grabbed it and held it up higher. Causing the younger girl to jump up and try to grab it from her older companion before grabbing it and huddling it close to her body and shoving it in her bag.  
‘Because if my hunch is right, I own this girl’s forbearer more than anything in the world.’  
***  
Soon enough the girls found themselves walking in the back of the group with the house leaders as Jeralt walked ahead talking with Knights.  
“This will be your first time at the monastery. I’d be happy to show you around.” Dimitri said to Byleth, trying to break the silence in the group.  
“It really is Fodlan in a nutshell. The good and bad.” Claude said, adding to Dimitri’s comment about the school.  
“I’ll have to see it for myself before I can make any judgment on that good sir.”  
“You wound me, Dear lady” Claude said to Bella’s slight before giving her a slight bow as they continued to walk.  
“Enough, like it or not we’ll be there soon enough.” Edelgard said as they started to come out of the forest and make their way up the path both Bella and Byleth had to squint to adjust their eyes to see the Monastery. To Bella the game did little justice to how big this place really was as it covered the whole mountain top and towered over the nearby town.  
“There it is Garreg Mach Monastery.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay! I just finished my finals some time ago and working on two stories at once to make sure they both get love is a bit much but I'm not stopping any time soon!  
> -Luna


End file.
